The Monster in the Red Shirt
by HideMyWings
Summary: What happens when Emma and Hook come eye-to-eye with a bear, that obviously isn't a real bear (it's Storybrooke) but, in fact, nobody less than the cute yellow bear with the red shirt that is called Winnie The Pooh by most. (The story is better than the description)
1. Chapter 1

**Oh my, I finally had the courage to share a bit of something. Here's the first chapter, because I'm assuming nobody would read it if it were too long and with all the details I'm thinking it will be a bit longer. Anyway, this is my first OUAT fic, and the idea for this story came from one of my best friends who sarcastically said: "I wouldn't be bloody surprised if one they Winnie The Pooh would actually be on the show." So obviously I made a little story around that. I will update it very soon. Please let me know what you thought at the end of it and make sure it won't make me cry.**

It was a Saturday afternoon and Emma was still lying in bed for she had taken a day off. What could she possibly come across on a day like this? It's not like Storybrooke had lots of criminals to lock up, and she was getting sick of all the paperwork day after day. Surely David could handle it alone for a day. She sat up and yawned, it was about time she got out of bed, way to waste a day off lying in bed like this. She slowly got up and took a brisk shower and continued her way to the kitchen where she decided pancakes would be a perfect way to start her day and of course hot chocolate with –here comes- cinnamon. It wasn't a very original nor special breakfast, but why would she care?

After eating her breakfast and cleaning up afterwards she already got bored. See Emma, this is why you don't take days of, you have no life next to work. The weather was lovely today, so this surely was no day to just sit inside. She decided it would be fun to hang out with Kilian, they had hardly seen each other that week because they were both quite busy living their own lives. She threw on her jacket, got her keys and was soon outside making her way towards the docks where, with no doubt, Kilian was hanging around. Soon as she got around the corner she heard him calling her name, "Hey Swan!" She smiled as her eyes searched the dock for him, and the smile grew wider once she found him. "What are you doing here, love? Miss my devilishly handsome appearance?" Emma just rolled her eyes at this as she always did. But she would be lying if she said she didn't find this a bit attractive. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." She replied, which was answered by one of his smirks. "Actually, I have a day off today and I was wondering whether you would like to go for a walk with me." "Sounds like a great idea to me, love." He smiled.

A while later they were walking in the woods, fingers intertwined, for the first time in forever Emma hadn't pulled away when a hand reached for hers. And she had to admit that she was fairly happy she didn't. They walked on in silence neither of them felt the need to say anything, nor did they have anything to really talk about. They had been like this for a few minutes tops when, a few metres behind them they heard a branch crack. They both immediately turned around searching through the trees to see what had made the sound. Much against their hopes it wasn't one of their friends and inmates of Storybrooke. It most definitely wasn't that. In fact, it wasn't even human.

"Bloody hell," She heard Kilian whisper under his breath "Emma, do you have any idea what we're supposed to do now?" He asked his eyes still fixed on, what most definitely was something he hadn't faced on the ocean ever, the gigantic bear that was coming closer to them every second. "Really? You think I'd know that?" She whispered back slightly irritated. She quickly around her for options. Climbing a tree was one, but she knew some bears could climb trees too. But if they wanted to be forced into a small space with no chance of surviving they would most definitely go for that one. Running would be useless too for that damn teddy bear would be faster than probably both of them.

The last thing she could come up with is something she once saw in a movie. She sighed, it was either this or something far worse, it was worth a try. "Follow my lead." She whispered to Kilian, she stood up as tall as possible and stretched her arms over her head too, slowly backing away from the enormous creature.

For a moment it looked like the bear wasn't for a bit intimidated by them, but it soon turned around and made its way back into the woods. "Swan, I could kiss you right now, but I think our biggest concern is to get the bloody hell out of these woods." And she couldn't agree more.


	2. Chapter 2

**So yay, here is chapter two, I'm hoping to not take too long between chapters but as we all know the hell that is school starts again tomorrow so I will try my best. Not a lot happens in this chapter, but it's still important for the storyline so enjoy! Oh dear, I'm so sorry for how messy this chapter was before, I fixed it. (I honestly don't understand this site a lot)**

They kept running until they were back in Storybrooke, just to make sure they actually got there safe and sound. They both needed a while to catch their breath and when they looked around, everything seemed so normal. That was the thing in Storybrooke, or any place really. When something happened you would always wonder whether it had really happened or whether it was just your mind playing with you. Because people always seemed so unaware. But this time she was sure it had happened. No doubt. "I didn't know there where bloody bears in those woods." Kilian whispered more to himself than to Emma. "Are you alright, Swan?" he asked more out of habit than out of real concern. Because except the horrifying eye-to-eye with this bloody monster nothing had really happened. And he knew, because he had watched Emma closely the entire time. "Yeah, I'm good, you?" "Ay, so what do we do now?" And just then Emma remembered something. She started running.

She left Kilian behind sighing hopelessly, he had hoped they would be done with the running for a while, it was supposed to be a calm, quiet day. "Bloody hell, Swan. Where are we going?" He yelled after her, following her. "The Sheriff's station." Kilian rolled his eyes, "Does a day off even mean anything to you?" he muttered under his breath.

David clearly was just as surprised to see Emma and Hook at the station. "Didn't you have a day off?" "I did," Emma said trying to catch her breath again, "I do, but I have a question to you." David frowned but nodded for her to go ahead. "Before, in the first curse, you worked at the pet shelter right?" David nodded, "As assistant, yeah." he answered, wondering where she could be going with this. "Have you ever come across any bears?" She asked. "Bears?" he repeated, "There's no bears in Storybrooke, or anywhere close by." Emma and Kilian exchanged glances, "And how sure are you about this, mate?" Kilian asked. To this David stood up, walked around the table and leaned against it. "I'm very sure. Now where is this coming from?" He asked looking at Emma again. "Well, Kilian and I were in the woods and there kind of was a bear." David looked at them, disbelief spread all over his face. "Are you absolutely sure?" "No, it might have been a big rabbit pretending to be a bear." Kilian answered "Of course we're sure." Emma rolled her eyes at this, "We'll show you where so you can inspect the place." She knew from experience that it would be easier believing them with some prove.

It took them a while but they had found the exact place again, David inspected the traces to conclude that it, indeed, had been a bear. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you immediately, but it's just highly unlikely for a bear to be here. And with highly unlikely I mean practically impossible." David said. "Except it was here, as we all know." Kilian interrupted. David ignored him, "This one would have one hell of a journey to end up here." Emma nodded. Then suddenly her eyes widened as she remembered something, someone. Are you serious?" she said more to herself than to either Kilian or David. She touched her temples with her fingertips, "This town drives me absolutely crazy sometimes." Then she saw the confused looks on David and Kilian's faces and she realized they obviously couldn't read her mind. "Or," she started, she knew it was going to sound absolutely ridiculous but then again, her family were literally fairy tale characters and her boyfriend Captain Hook. It hardly gets much crazier than that. "maybe it came here with you, with the curse." She suggested. "Except for the fact that no animals came to this world with the curse." David answered, still not knowing what else Emma knew. Of course Emma had considered that. She took a deep breath "Okay, there is this -sort of- fairy tale character that is called 'Winnie The Pooh'." David nodded, "But if it were an animal it wouldn't have come along with the curse." He answered. "No, but what if it's more than just an animal, maybe it's, I don't know, cursed?" David sighed, sometimes living a fairy tale wasn't that great. But Kilian still didn't understand, how could he? "So this 'Winnie The Pooh'" he spoke the name almost as if he were unsure about it, "it is a bear?" He frowned. She nodded, "It's a bear, in a red shirt. There's a whole lot of movies about it and books too." Kilian looked at her with disbelief. "There's a fairy tale character that is a bear? And everybody just sort of agrees with that? Bloody hell, you people are weird." "Said Captain Hook." Emma shot back. "Anyway, my point is that I think 'Winnie The Pooh' somehow has gotten to Storybrooke, and we have met him."


	3. Chapter 3

**So, yay another chapter. I'm still trying to post one every before I even forget about this story at all. Very good luck you guys with school and whatever else you are doing. Thank you so much for reading this story, and thank you for the reviews you've left. Hope you all will enjoy this chapter! **

"Anyway, my point is that I think 'Winnie The Pooh' somehow has gotten to Storybrooke, and we have met him." Kilian frowned, "Can't it just be a bear?" Emma shot him an annoyed look, "Of course it can be just a bear, but we live in Storybrooke and nothing is normal so it's perfectly explainable if this bear is Winnie The Pooh." She had met so many people to even stop and question this. "Alright," Kilian knew better than trying to reason with her about other possibilities. "So what do we know about this 'Winnie The Pooh'?" "Wait let's get to the enchanted part first," David interrupted, "why do you think it's enchanted in the first place?" Emma nodded, finally the kind of questions that could help them. "Well first of all, the bear in this fairytale could actually talk." Kilian rolled his eyes at this again, "Of course, talking bear wearing a red shirt." Once again his comments were left ignored. "And second of all when the bear was looking at us it wasn't like it was going to attack us. It was more like it was lonely, and trust me, I know that look all too well." Emma finished.

Both Kilian and David struggled whenever Emma said things like this, one more than the other. But neither of them felt the need to mention this. In fact, the only thing that gave this away was the hurt expression on David's face and the way Kilian would turn away pretending not to listen. Or maybe trying really trying not to listen. Of course Emma noticed this but she couldn't help herself having these thoughts, and they would -usually- escape her mouth before she even realised she had thought of them at all. But she was to stubborn to take them back, because painful or not, it had indeed been a part of her life for a long time. And there was no use for hiding them.

"If this indeed was a person that has been cursed, we should find the person who did this. And there's only a few people we know who could have done this." Emma continued after a relatively awkward silence. "Ay," Kilian replied "I say we spare us all some trouble and go to Regina first." Both Emma and David agreed to this, it was the option that seemed most likely. For if Gold would have had problems with someone they would most likely not live to tell the tale, bear or no bear. They returned back to Storybrooke, and since Regina was no longer the mayor and her office was officially taken by Mary-Margaret there was only one place where she was to be found most of the time. Well, more really but it was quite logical that she was in her Vault. "Regina, are you in here?" Emma asked once they entered the Vault.

"Certainly am, and what, if I might ask, are you doing here?" Regina asked looking quite suspiciously. "Back in the Enchanted Forest, did you curse someone, some guy, into a bear?" "So straight to business, then?" Regina stated out loud, "Fine, let me think." She said walking around her Vault obviously thinking about it. "You don't bloody remember, do you?" Kilian asked, clearly a bit irritated. "As a matter of fact, I do." Regina answered. Emma cast Kilian an 'I told you so' look, before turning back to Regina. "A bear, really? You actually did that?" Emma couldn't deny she was kind of disturbed by this. She knew Regina had done all sorts of things, but this crossed some sort of invisible line. "How would you know of this anyway?" Regina asked sending Emma a 'really, what-did-you-expect-I-was-the-evil-queen' kind of look. "Well, we may or may not have run into it.." Emma answered, "him. Whoever it was, they are in the woods, and probably not going to be staying in there for much longer." "And why is that?" Regina asked. "Because now they know there's people nearby they might actually think that there is some chance of getting back to their natural state." Emma answered, it was a bit of a long shot, but not so unlikely. Actually it was quite likely. "So," David asked stepping forward, "can you turn him back?" "I suppose so, but now why would I do that?" Regina answered. This was followed by some indignant stares. "Fine, I'll turn him back, whatever. As long as you remember I had my reasons for turning him into a bear in the first place."


	4. Chapter 4

**Once again I'd like to thank you all for reading, and for the few reviews I've had. You have no idea how much that means to me. Sorry if you were expecting a chapter yesterday, I was rather busy with school,the dentist, guitar lessons and more stuff. And when I came home I honestly was too tired to make a decent chapter. Hope you'll enjoy this one! **

Once they came out of the Vault it was already dark, and going out in the woods in the dark to find a bear didn't sound very tempting to anybody so they decided it would be best if they got home and got a good night of sleep so they could continue the next day. David went home to Mary-Margaret, leaving Kilian and Emma. "I'm starving, last time I ate was breakfast, wanna go to Granny's?" Emma asked Kilian. She could actually feel the emptiness in her stomach where the food was supposed to be. "Ay, I'm quite hungry myself." He replied, so off they went. And after a delicious dinner, they both went home to get some proper sleep.

The next day they all woke early, and after a good breakfast they all gathered in the woods. David had brought Mary-Margaret as well today - she wore a bow with her, just in case-, because she was excellent at tracing things, for she had done this a lot in the Enchanted Forest. And since neither David himself, Emma, Regina or Kilian had any experience with this it was definitely a good choice. They went back to the place where they had met the bear for the very first time, and it didn't take long for Mary-Margaret to find more traces that had been left behind.

When they had been walking for a while Emma's curiosity had grown bigger and she finally asked Regina the question that she had been waiting for to ask for forever. "So, this bear." She started, but then corrected herself, "this man, is his name really 'Winnie'?" Regina frowned at her, "I don't know." She answered. "You turned a man into a bear and you don't even know his actual name?" Emma asked filled with disbelief, "What could he have possibly done to you?" When she heard this Regina stopped immediately and looked at Emma, who had now stopped waking too. "Why I did what I did is none of your concern. You should be happy I am actually helping you with this. And how lovely I think this conversation is, I don't think us chattering out loud will help with hunting this thing." She replied sharply.

Regina was relieved when this actually did prevent Emma from asking her any more questions. Truth be told that she, in fact, did not remember this man. It wasn't surprising really, she had done lots of things like this one. She couldn't even remember it all, she wondered whether she actually had a good reason for turning this particular man into a bear. She hoped seeing him back into his actual state might remember her what had happened between them. But she didn't have much hope, because as she knew she could hardly remember everyone she had done terrible things to.

After almost six hours of tracing, –who knew bears made such long journeys- Mary-Margaret continuing to tell them they were getting closer and closer and feeling like they kept walking in circles they finally found something useful. Well, let's say the second best thing they could possibly find, first being the actual bear. This being the cave in which the bear slept, or at least spent a lot of its time. The smell was almost unbearable, because as you may know bears are not the cleanest animals around.

"So what do we do now?" Emma asked, looking around at everybody. "We wait till it gets back, I guess." Mary-Margaret said. "How long does that usually take?" Emma asked, "Well, I don't know I've never waited for a bear to return to its sleeping place ever before. But what I do know is that if we keep tracing it we have the chance of eventually losing the trail or walking into it at places that are not very convenient for us." Mary-Margaret answered, "I think it's best if we stay here and keep an eye out for when it returns. It's probably our best shot."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey there again, this chapter took me a bit longer because I didn't really know how to write a good ending and I honestly didn't much feel like writing a chapter, so this is why I shouldn't be allowed to ever write stories, I will never end them. I did this time though. And I'm really grateful to all of you who read this chapter followed, reviewed and whatever else you did. I now realize I haven't mentioned that this is the last chapter. I hope you will all love it and enjoy reading it. Maybe I'll see you sometime if I ever decide to write another story. Thank you and goodbye.**

After waiting for a couple of hours they all started to get a bit bored -after half an hour already really- Emma finally saw an animal getting closer. But it wasn't a bear, in fact she wished it was the bear because first of all she was getting really tired from just sitting there. And second of all, the animal that she saw getting closer was so unexpected, they weren't prepared for that kind of animal. She scanned with her eyes who else had seen it, so far the only one was Mary-Margaret, they exchanged glances both probably looking very scared. Emma tried to sign to the others, absolutely terrified to set the thing off, but they all seemed very interested in anything but her. In the end she whispered trying to make as little noise as possible, "Regina." Now this go her their attention. She moved her head mouthing 'turn around' to them. They all seemed very startled by what they saw, and tried their best not to do anything unexpected. An appropriate reaction for seeing a tiger in the woods while hunting for a bear.

Well, everybody except for Regina who only showed a small smile. Because now she finally remembered why she had turned this man into a bear, and this one into a tiger. For some reason it changed her mood in a positive matter. It was –obviously- back in the Enchanted Forest where she had met these crazy people before. They had tried to rob her carriage probably not knowing who was inside of it. She wasn't so fond of killing people back then, and instead turned them into a bear, a tiger and another one that she soon spotted when looking around, a piglet. It was hardly any better than being dead, but rather enjoyable to herself back then. This obviously wasn't clear to the rest of the party, because they were all still staring in shock at the tiger. "Oh relax," Regina said, out loud, startling everybody. "How can we possible relax, it's a tiger." Emma said, not taking her eyes off it. "It's not really a tiger." Regina explained. "Yeah it certainly looks like a gigantic cat." Emma replied irritated. "No, I mean it's, oh well never mind." Regina replied and she changed the tiger back into its actual form. Suddenly all eyes were on her again. "Really? A tiger, a bear? What's next, a monkey?" Emma said, "Close, a piglet actually." Regina said as she turned that one too into its actual form. And as if it had heard all the commotion the bear finally came back and was instantly turned back into a human being too.

Now everybody was left to look at Regina not sure what they were supposed to think of any of this. And when they couldn't figure that out they all turned back to the three men standing there looking around in confusion, gratitude and probably lots of hate for Regina who had turned them into these animals for over thirty years.

Mary-Margaret was the first one to walk up to one of them and take care of him followed by David, Emma and eventually Kilian. Emma walked up to Winnie, "Are you alright, Winnie?" She asked him, to this he raised his eyebrows. "Actually the name is Edwin, only my friends call me Winnie." And then squeezed his eyes at her, "Am I supposed to know you, my lovely lady?" Emma shook her head but Kilian who felt like he had to make clear that Emma wasn't available walked over to her and took her hand. During all this Regina decided it was best for her to get out of there before they would actually realise it was her. But before she did Emma called after her, "Regina," to this she turned around, "thank you." She smiled, Regina just nodded.

After this they all went back to Storybrooke, the three men quite content with being back to being human.


End file.
